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Chili Cox Carxe

A chili made with beef ribs, tomatoes, carrots, onions, vinegar, sugar, cayenne pepper, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Chili Cox Carxe

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil four pounds of beef ribs, cut small, until tender.

  2. Add one can of tomatoes, one large carrot, one large onion chopped fine, one tablespoon vinegar, two tablespoonfuls sugar, one teaspoon cayenne chili (or cayenne pepper to taste), and salt.

  3. Boil all together.

  4. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

391Calories
28 gProtein
16 gFat
32 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef ribs
Provides the main protein; long boiling makes the meat tender.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Adds moisture and acidity that give the chili its base body and tang.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the sweetness.
Onion
Adds aroma and savory depth as it cooks into the liquid.

The step that matters

Boil until the beef is tender. Ribs are tough collagen-rich meat. They need a long, steady simmer, not a hard rapid boil, for the connective tissue to break down and the meat to become tender. Cutting the pieces small shortens the time needed.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, vinegar, sugar, onion, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, vinegar, sugar, onion, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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